These forums serve the kinds of neighborhoods are the least likely to have [social media in public life | local community building efforts that use social media] while wealthier, more homogeneous areas are benefiting from a mix of neighborhood e-mail lists, blogs, Ning sites, and Facebook Groups.

From gathering lessons on effective community outreach (we do extensive in-person outreach) to building content and forum participant engagement that reflects the diversity of those successfully recruited, this work is being watched. This seems to be a nut that no one has cracked. What good is online engagement if it simply helps those communities that need the least relative help while completely passing over those diverse/lower income areas that could benefit the most? We will seek an academic partner to develop a case study and help evaluate this ongoing work.

We are also seeking funding to include our Native American majority rural Minnesota Cass Lake Leech Lake community Issues Forum is this enhanced effort. Emerging lessons are well documented on our project blog.